The thing I was disappointed about was the whole “boys don’t wear dresses” element. I bought it thinking it was about a boy, who identified as a such, who just happened to want to wear dresses. The fact it was about a trans child is great, and I’m going to be happy reading this to my son on that level, but it’s not what I was hoping for.

My son identifies as a boy (at least at this point) but loves ‘boy’ things and ‘girl’ things in fairly equal measure. So a book that told him it was okay for a boy to like girl things in spite of what others say was what I was expecting from the reviews I’d seen.

I still think it’s a good book, just not quite what I wanted.

Once I acquired a copy of “10,000 dresses” I have appreciated it for what it is. That is, the only book I know of that depicts a trans (or gender variant) child. And there isn’t much I can criticize about it. Sure the teasing and threatened violence are not positive, but they show the reality that exists for some kids (trans or not). And, in that, they open a place of dialogue for parents and other caregivers to have with the children we love and care for.

We live in a very conservative “city”, that many consider a small town, despite it being the 3rd largest city in our province. So, I think bringing this book into our household, with accompanying dialogue was important.
We have not figured out how explicitly to tell our son that his dad is trans, but we don’t hide that fact from him. So, maybe this book will be the way we eventually try to get him to make sense out of that information. Already he loves the book, so yes, totally appropriate to read it as soon as kids are ready to move on from board books, but also many years later. ;-)

Some other books about transgender youth:
“Mom, I need to be a Girl” By Just Evelyn
“Luna” By Julie Anne Peters (chapter book about a female-identified teen and her sister, good for older kids or adults)

Some books about kids who don’t follow societies ideas about gender roles:
“Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?” By Carmela LaVigna Coyle – a series of books
“No ordinary Olive” – Roberta Baker – I’ve loved all of the “Olive” books by Roberta Baker. Olive is a character who knows what she wants, and has supportive parents (Pirate birthday party! Mud pies! Lizards and bugs!)
“Oliver Button is a Sissy” – by Tomie De Paola
“The Princess Knight” – Cornelia Funke
“William’s Doll” – Charlotte Zolotow
“The Paper Bag Princess”, by Robert Munsch
“A Fire Engine for Ruthie” by Leslea Newman

I’ve got more- I could email you my list if you like :) Also, check out
http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/children/tboys.php
for more books about gender non-conforming boys.

-Janelle

PS, could you email me?

Very interesting concept, though, and if it’s one of the only books that take on that subject matter, then it is definitely worth a look!